Traditional radio frequency identification (RFID) readers provide a single small target antenna for card validation, usually similarly sized to the card and one reader powers one antenna. Such designs, while effective in small scale access control applications, generate problems when utilized in large scale applications, such as transit systems, sporting events, and the like. For example, the single validation point necessitates that a large number of validation devices be provided to accommodate large crowd sizes. Such applications require that a significant amount of land/property be allocated to the validation devices. Moreover, the use of large numbers of validation devices has high costs associated with the purchase, maintenance, and operation of the validation devices. Even with large numbers of validation devices, queue times may be excessive as the users must all queue up to try to validate access media at the single validation target.